JPH0442193B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Technical Field of the Invention] The present invention relates to a special pattern registration/printing device for registering and printing special patterns such as barcode patterns and half-width characters.

[Technical background of the invention and its problems]

Usually, dot printers have memory for storing patterns in order to print arbitrary patterns. Hereinafter, this will be referred to as a pattern buffer and will be explained. This pattern buffer is mainly used in the following two ways.

One is used as a buffer for printing random continuous patterns sent from the CPU main body. According to this usage, processing efficiency decreases because the CPU sends a print pattern each time it prints.

The other one is to set the pattern buffer to 24 vertically.
This method divides the text into 24 (24 x 24 bits) horizontally and uses it for pattern registration on a character-by-character basis. For details, first send the registered pattern and character pattern from the CPU,
After registration is completed, simply by sending the registration code, the printer searches the pattern area, assembles and prints the pattern. This method is mainly used for printing external character patterns such as infrequently used kanji and company names. According to this usage, processing efficiency is high because there is no need to send the pattern after registration. However, since registration and printing are fixed in units of basic grids, it is difficult to apply this method to special patterns.

By the way, in the case of a barcode consisting of black and white vertical stripes, even if it is made up of dots, it often does not exactly match the basic grid of, for example, 24 dots. Since printing is performed in basic grid units, extra spaces are created between barcodes, making them practically unusable. Therefore, conventionally, in order to print barcodes, the CPU
Edit the barcode on the side to create a continuous pattern,
It is common for the CPU to send and print the information each time using the former method, which is extremely inefficient.

[Purpose of the invention]

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned drawbacks, and it registers external characters using a microprogram built into a printer device, and prints a pattern in the printer device. The purpose of this invention is to provide a method for registering and printing special patterns by using an assembly printing configuration. Another object of the present invention is to provide a special pattern registration/printing device that can efficiently register and print characters of any size, such as half-width patterns.

[Summary of the invention]

In the present invention, a special pattern such as a barcode pattern or half-width characters is registered using a microprogram built into the printer, and the pattern is assembled and printed on the printer side.

This improves the processing efficiency on the main body side when registering and printing barcode patterns, and also enables efficient registration and printing of patterns with arbitrary sizes, such as half-width characters.

[Embodiments of the invention]

Hereinafter, the present invention will be explained in detail.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of an information processing apparatus in which the present invention is implemented. In the figure, 11
is the computer main body (CPU). The CPU 11 is a main memory 1 in which various programs consisting of a group of software instructions and various data such as print data are stored.
2, and various calculations are controlled according to the contents. It also sends printing commands to the printer device 15 and performs other controls. 1
Reference numerals 3 and 14 indicate input/output devices such as a keyboard, a display device, a floppy disk device, and a magnetic disk device.

15 is a printer device on which the present invention is implemented. The printer device 15 includes a microprocessor,
The main components are various buffers (RAM) and microprogram memory (none of which are shown), which will be described later, and patterns are registered based on registration/printing commands issued from the CPU 11 or based on other operating conditions. , and assemble the pattern,
Furthermore, it controls the entire printing operation. This microprocessor realizes the above functions by sequentially reading and executing program data stored in a microprogram memory. Parts of the program data that are relevant to the present invention are shown as a flowchart in FIG. The printer device 15
is a printer control unit 21 that realizes the above functions.
and a printer mechanism section 22 that drives the print head pins for printing a desired pattern under the control of the printer control section 21, and further moves the carriage on which the print head pins are mounted.
It consists of

In addition, 16 is each of the above-mentioned devices 11, 12, 13, 1
4 and 15 are connected to each other, and each of the devices 11, 12, 13, 14, and 15 performs data conversion with a partner device via this system bus 16.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing functional blocks surrounding the memory built into the printer device 15. As shown in FIG. In the figure, 101 is a pattern buffer in which registered patterns are stored for each basic grid. 102 is CPU
A character buffer 103 temporarily stores the print codes coming from 11, and a line buffer 103 stores the assembled print pattern data. Both are built into the printer device 15 .
Allocated in RAM.

Reference numeral 104 denotes a pattern registration handler (first control means) that registers a pattern arriving from the CPU 105 in the pattern buffer 101, and 105 a pattern assembly handler (second control means) that extracts a desired pattern from the pattern buffer 101 and assembles it. ). Both handlers 104,1
05 is composed of microprograms, and microprogram memory (usually ROM)
is stored in. The microprogram reads and executes this content to realize the function as a handler.

FIGS. 3a and 3b are operational conceptual diagrams showing a barcode pattern registration method. In the figure,
PATCTR indicates the print control pattern for the vertical pattern.

The operation of the present invention will be explained in detail below.

Now, in embodying the barcode printing operation, we will explain it assuming that the size of the basic grid of the external character pattern is 24 bits (vertical) x 24 bits (horizontal). first,
A registration command is issued from the CPU 11 to the printer device 15 . As a result, the external character pattern is registered before printing. Here, in the case of a barcode, pattern registration is performed as shown in FIGS. 3a and 3b. In the figure, a shaded area A is a barcode pattern, in which the vertical patterns are all "0" or "1". In the figure, the part indicated by E is an escape pattern, and the vertical patterns are made up of a mixture of "0" and "1".

The pattern registration is set in the pattern buffer 101 by the pattern registration handler 104 as if it were a standardized external character.

After registering the pattern, when printing the barcode, the CPU 11 notifies the printer device 15 that the barcode printing mode will be entered next. The printer device 15 receives this and holds it as an internal flag of the pattern assembly handler 15 .

Next, send the registration code for the barcode.
As a result, the registration code is character buffer 1
02 and the pattern assembly handler 10
5, the contents of the character buffer 102 are retrieved.

FIG. 3 shows an operation flowchart of the microprogram by the pattern assembly handler 15. The pattern assembly handler 105 first searches the pattern buffer 101 based on the registration code to find the corresponding pattern grid.

In the normal mode, this 24×24 bit pattern is copied as is to the line buffer 103.

In the barcode mode, the pattern assembly handler 105 uses the vertical pattern pointer,
Scan the contents of each vertical pattern while updating (incrementing) the contents of PATPTR. When the vertical pattern is all "0" or "1", the microprocessor recognizes it as a barcode pattern and sets it in the line buffer 103. When the vertical pattern is a mixture of "0" and "1", that is, when the pointer points to the area shown by E in FIG. Literally ignore it without setting it up.

The above is the barcode processing for one registration code. When registered codes for barcodes exist consecutively in the character buffer 102, by performing this process and exiting the escape pattern, a continuous barcode pattern with no gaps can be obtained.

As shown in FIG. 2b, if the pattern of one barcode exceeds 24 dots, the pattern is divided into two and managed with two registered codes. For printing,
Printing is possible by sending two registration codes as a set.

The above description has been about printing a barcode pattern, but it can also be applied to generally non-standard patterns such as half-width external characters. This is shown conceptually in FIG. However, since the pattern is generally not a special pattern like a bar code, a print control bit (PC in the figure) is provided for the vertical pattern.
If the print control bit is "1", printing is performed; if it is "0", printing is not performed. The CPU 11 simultaneously sends out this print control bit (PC) when registering a pattern. In this case, the pattern assembly handler 105 checks the line buffer 10 while scanning the print control bits (PC) to see if the vertical pattern can be printed.
Set it to 3. With the above steps, a pattern of any size can be registered and printed.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, according to the present invention, barcodes can be
Compared to the conventional method of assembling the pattern on the CPU side and sending it as an image pattern each time it is printed, the pattern is assembled on the printer side, improving the processing efficiency of the CPU. Furthermore, since barcode patterns can be registered and printed as if they were standardized external characters, it becomes easier to create application programs. Furthermore, character patterns of any size, such as half-width patterns, can be efficiently registered and printed.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of an information processing device in which the present invention is implemented, and FIG. 2 is a diagram showing functional blocks around the memory built into the printer device.
Figures 3a and b are operational conceptual diagrams showing a barcode pattern registration method, Figure 4 is an operational conceptual diagram showing a half-width character registration pattern registration method, and Figure 5 is a microcontroller used in the present invention. Program flowchart shown. 11...Main unit (CPU), 12...Main memory, 1
5...Printer device, 101...Pattern buffer, 102...Character buffer, 103...
Line buffer, 104...Pattern registration handler, 105...Pattern assembly handler.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A first control means that registers a pattern in a pattern buffer based on a registration command and a registration code issued from the main body, and after registering the pattern by the first control means, mode information is sent from the main body. a second control means that determines whether the mode is normal mode or special pattern mode, and retrieves the contents of the pattern buffer and reads out the pattern by receiving a registration code from the main body; , which is read and executed by a processor unit to control pattern registration and printing. and a line buffer in which the print pattern read by the control means is stored, and the second control means searches and reads the contents of the pattern buffer according to the steps (a) to (c) shown below. A special pattern registration/printing device characterized by: (a) Search the pattern buffer using the print code obtained through the character buffer and search for the corresponding pattern grid. (b) Store the searched pattern in the line buffer in normal mode. (c) Special In pattern mode, the contents of the vertical pattern are scanned, and when the vertical pattern is continuous bit information of the same type, it is recognized as a special pattern and set in the line buffer, and when different types of bit information are mixed, it is set in the line buffer. 2. Register control bits indicating printability for each pattern and each vertical pattern sent from the main body into the pattern buffer using the registration command and registration code issued from the main body. After the pattern is registered by the control means and the first control means, the mode information from the main body is used to determine whether the mode is normal mode or special pattern mode, and the content of the pattern buffer is determined by receiving a registration code from the main body. a second control means for searching and reading out the pattern, stored in the memory unit in program form;
This is a printer device in which a processor unit reads and executes this to control pattern registration and printing, and the printer device has a character buffer that temporarily stores the print code coming from the main body, and and a line buffer in which the print pattern read by the control means is stored, and the second control means performs the following procedure (a).
Registration of a special pattern characterized by searching and reading out the contents of the pattern buffer according to ~(c)
Printing device. (a) Search the pattern buffer using the print code obtained through the character buffer and search for the corresponding pattern grid. (b) Store the searched pattern in the line buffer in normal mode. (c) Special In the pattern mode, the control bits are referred to, and if the bits are printable, the corresponding vertical pattern is read out from the pattern buffer and set in the line buffer; if the bits are not printable, they are ignored without being set in the line buffer.